cptn-bluebeard

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Matt’s cheeky little move of the fear tokens and looking directly at the camera at 2:07 in episode 1 is sending me. That was Matt’s promise that he’s gonna have some fun in this limited series.

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It’s so funny that Travis perks up and waits for Matt to do his horn sound and nods in approval after Matt’s botched attempt way back in Vox Machina.

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Dina/Isabela Merced is single-handedly carrying this show. No hate towards Bella, but Ellie’s character in the show doesn’t seem as intriguing as the game and that’s no one else’s fault but Naughty Dog and the writers. Abby has no intrigue either, five episodes in. She’s just the boogeyman, and honestly Joel’s death was anticlimactic in and of itself so it doesn’t feel like the vendetta is real?

The production quality for the first two episodes was… low. It felt incomplete, but it did get better later on despite the obvious green screen usage. Please tell me, though, how Dina always has fresh mascara and eyeliner on, her hair is perfectly done, and she’s got the right shade of lip makeup in the middle of the apocalypse/traveling for weeks/months and prioritizing survival ESPECIALLY when she said “pack essentials.” Dina would never say “yeah, I need this makeup.”

I still have 6 & 7 to watch, but I’m not completely sold on this season. I loved Part II, and I loved the story and the morally grey and the character arcs, but I don’t think drawing this show out for a third season was the right call because I don’t care about any of the plot or the characters at the moment, which is hilarious because they have source material, and I loved the source material. Now I have to wait for season 3, probably with an unsatisfying ending to season 2 to sit on, and who knows if season 3 will do the game justice?

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Clean shaven Travis was a complete jump scare

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The amount of Twilight parallels I have made to this finale is actually astounding and I need my brain studied.

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Bells Hells: *spends the entire campaign seeking context/advice and debating amongst themselves in an earnest effort to navigate a profoundly difficult cosmic trolley problem, where committing to one side or the other necessarily involves consigning some portion of the global populace to mass suffering and/or destruction, and where refusal to choose will inevitably lead to someone else with potentially fewer moral qualms beating them to it*

Every other dipshit in the cr tag: ugh why the fuck are these morons still debating this, clearly the correct choice is to let all the [insert whichever in-universe demographic they feel the most antipathy toward] die

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like I think a lot of people just gotta chill out and give into your inner travis. a bad outcome is still an interesting story

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happy ten year anniversary of my favorite tumblr post of all time!!!

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I love these two- thanks for the journey, team avatar

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In 2025, witness the fall of the Kingdom of Yscalin.

🥀

Among the Burning Flowers, a short prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, is publishing in hardback, ebook and audiobook in September 2025.

Told by three characters – Marosa Vetalda, Estina Melaugo, and Aubrecht Lievelyn – it will not only feature another stunning cover from Ivan Belikov, but also beautiful interior illustrations from Rovina Cai. You can pre-order it here.

🥀

Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.

It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind. 

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.

A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.

And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .

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My main concern is the timeline for finishing up campaign 3: we have only have Bell’ Hells once this month and then they’re not back until the new year since the Daggerheart live show is broadcasting on the 19th. I’m torn between them getting through the Predathos fight next week or stalling enough that the “finale” is in the new year. I think if they have the Predathos fight next week, then the fallout/end of campaign is going to feel disconnected, but I feel like a “filler” episode/ “fight to the hallowed cage” type episode won’t be as satisfying? Idk, I’m sure they have an idea of how this is going to work.

This also brings up another point of Bell’s Hells ending so soon. A shorter campaign than both VM and MN paired with the fact that it hasn’t been Bell’s Hells the entirety of the campaign, what with the EXU cast and Downfall and the other PC groups, it’s honestly a shame we don’t get to see more of these characters and I think that’s going to be a strike towards Bell’s Hells at the end of all this (like they’re aren’t already at the bottom of a lot of people’s lists, but I absolutely ADORE Bell’s Hells). Also, the lack of certainty about the end for them also sets them apart from the other groups in the sense of the first two had a clear goal of “defeat the bad guy” while Bell’s Hells has a lot more complexity and nuance to their decision they still need to figure out at the literal last minute. I’m intrigued and excited to see where we go but also a little saddened that they aren’t sharing the same gravitas overall.

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At this point I am convinced some people are watching this show solely via the subtitle files, because that's the only thing that explains drastically misunderstanding everything that's not spelled out in dialogue to this extent.

Honestly some of the most embarrassing mass failure of media literacy I've ever seen. It's not even complicated stuff, it's basic text comprehension and story fluency.

- No, Caitlyn's "I know!" is not anger at being called out; she's saying she is very, very painfully aware of what she's done wrong. Watch it again.

- No she didn't take the guards away or go to the cell to have sex with Vi. TF?!?

It was Vi who initiated; Caitlyn was surprised she did.

She pulled the guards away to help Vi if/when she chose to do what she knows her well enough to know she probably would. Vi makes her choice - Caitlyn doesn't "let" her, she just supports it, because it's Vi's choice to make.

Vi has no idea she's done this until after, it doesn't affect her "agency" at all. That's not what any of those words mean!

- She did this as a direct acknowledgement of and response to Vi's previous criticisms.

You are supposed to be able to make the very, very minimal leap of imagination required to understand what the show is telling you here; that she is genuinely sorry, genuinely committed to getting her shit together, and that she has heard and received every word that Vi has told her.

The reason this gesture is so important is that it demonstrates she's now going out on a limb to put herself, her resources, and her privilege to work for the greater good.

You should not need the show to sit you down and spell this out to you step by step Barney the Dinosaur style.

- She works very hard and sacrifices quite a lot to try to do right by people after fucking up so badly before, but not before very explicitly acknowledging that she can't undo the harm she's already done. And this isn't even an inference thing, she actually even says this bit out loud twice, and you still somehow missed it.

- For $5, what do you think the show was suggesting by having Sevika take up her seat, her final costume have no Enforcer uniform elements, and having her allude to an ongoing struggle. Come on, guess.

I am loathe to call people stupid just because some tv show stuff sailed over their heads, but... y'all are legitimately testing that. This is not exactly The Holy Mountain or something, it is very straightforward storytelling.

And just... I mean why would you be this loud about anything without making sure you didn't have it ass backways first?!? In public!?!? 💀

You guys, you have to watch shows to know what is happening in them.

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The Legend of Korra ended with Korra and Asami holding hands so Arcane could have Caitlyn and Vi go absolutely feral in a jail cell today

What a difference 10 years of representation makes

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"give us more complex well written flawed female characters and queer relationships"

Nah, you guys ain't even ready to maturely understand CaitVi yet.

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If I have to read “did anyone notice…?” And it’s the the most obvious shot/scene that they most definitely wanted the viewer to see, I am going to crash out.

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"We want more complex female characters" you can't even handle an angry, grieving daughter who just had her mother killed by her future wife's sister, shut the fuck up